To a 28-oz. can I add two minched or crushed cloves of garlic, 1 TSP. sugar, three-quarters TSP. Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, a few shakes of dried basil and maybe half a TSP. of "pizza seasonings", and a few shakes of red pepper flakes.

I use the 6 in 1's also, along with spices and other tomato's. After I combine everything else into it, I always cook my sauce for 30-45 minutes on low heat, and ideally let it sit in the fride overnight before using it. I will spoon right out of the can with a deep dish though.

Just to let everyone know I still have not received my 6 in 1 yet. I sent them a e-mail and they said that the shipment never processed. Although the cost came out of my account a week ago. So if anyone is waiting on anything you might want to e-mail them.

I went to escalon and looked at the choices. Which ones are best for the deep-dish?

All-Purpose Ground Tomatoes in Extra-Heavy Puree

This versatile Escalon product has long been a favorite of pizza and pasta operators because of its sweet tomato flavor, bright, natural color and thick, rich consistency. 6 IN 1 contains only vine-ripened, unpeeled ground tomatoes, extra-heavy puree and a touch of salt. It is so versatile that you can use it in everything from soups and salsas to pizza and pasta sauces. 6 IN 1 was Mr. Colombo's personal favorite!

Peeled Ground Tomatoes in Extra-Heavy Puree

Another extremely versatile product, 6 IN 1 Peeled Ground Tomatoes make the perfect base for recipes ranging from traditional red sauces to today's "cucina nuova" dishes. It contains only vine-ripened, peeled ground tomatoes, extra heavy puree and a bit of salt. This product is ideal for dishes where the smooth texture of peeled tomatoes is preferred.

Peeled Chunky Ground Tomatoes in Extra-Heavy Puree

6 IN 1 Peeled Chunky Ground Tomatoes contain only vine-ripened, peeled, coarsely ground tomatoes, extra-heavy puree and a pinch of salt. The chunky texture of this product makes it ideal for recipes that demand the consistency and fresh flavor of a ground tomato base with large tomato pieces.

I have the 6 in 1 peeled ground tomatoes, and they do have a decent amount of chunk to them. My only refrence point for Chicago style is the local Boston Pizzaria Uno's, and they definitely have bigger (and maybe more) chunks than the my 6 in 1 peeled ground. Maybe you should try the 6 in 1 peeled chunky ground tomatoes if you want to be closter to the Uno's style sauce.

I do have a feeling that what ever type of 6 in 1 you get are going to blow you away. Escalon is the best tomato I have ever tasted for American style pizza sauce. On another thread some others were preferring the Cento to Escalon. I could be wrong, but I think they were not comparing the Cento with the 6 in 1, which is the Escalon top of the line. I picked up some Cento all purpose crushed tomatoes "fresh pack", and some Sclafani home style crushed tomatoes to do my own shootout with the 6 in 1. I will let you guys know next week how it turns out. None of these tomatoes are San Marzanos (these are probably better for a more traditional Italian style pie), but If you want to try them the La Regina's are by far the best I have found.

Hi Peter,Escalon Premier Brands & Stanislaus Food Products are the best packers of tomatoes in the world.

The two plants are only 13 miles apart on McHenry Avenue. They are in the bullseye of the finest growers in California. The climate, sun and soil unique to the San Joachine Valley is unparralleled in producing the best fruit anywhere.

What really sets both companies head and sholders above all of the competition is they only produce 'fresh pack' - not from re-manufactured (paste) products. Fresh pack defined is; The fruit is picked at the height of ripeness and trucked to a California Dept of Agriculture grading station. Here the state inspectors draw out a random core sample of the load in the trailer and assign a numeric score. The graders are looking for ripe - pink- green ratios. Mold, Color, MOT (material other than tomato) PH level and other factors. The higher the score the more money the farmer gets per ton. Only the best, highest scores get to either plants. If the load has anything below a certain score the load is diverted to another packer.Next the tomatoes are floated off the trailers (Mater' Freighters) and washed before entering the plant. These tomatoes are harvested and arrive at the plants 27-7s. They spend almost no time in the parking lots. The field coordinators are like air traffic controllers. They travel from farm to farm and determine the exact time to harvest so the flow through the plant is uninterrupted and the full trailers don't sit in the parking lots rotting.

The tomatoes are then hand sorted on a huge conveyor by 10-30 quality line workers. They cull out all of the undesireable fruit and let only the best pass through to the peeling, crushing, grinding, slicing and evaporation lines.

The next step is huge. If the cooked tomatoes go directly into the can they are called 'Fresh Pack'. They are only cooked once. If they go to the evaporators and are cooked to an industrial paste (very thick) needs to cut it with a knife or saw. Then packed in Drums or 500 gallon Mylar, Scholle Bags. Tomatoes don't like excessive heat. Since they are a fruit rather than a vegetable they naturally contain high levels of furctose sugar. These natural sugars carmelize and turn the product orange or brown rather than the vibrant red we associate with great tomatoes. Onec you scorch a tomato you can't undo the damage. It forever loses it's fresh, just from the vine taste and color. This product is called 'Industrial Tomato Paste'. The Paste is then stored until an order comes in for whatever: sauce, puree, BBQ sauce, juice etc. The paste is then dilluted with water to the desired thickness, measured with a refractometer, spiced or not, blended together in a mixer and heated once again to sterilize and hit with preservatives and filled into cans or pouches and labeled. The 2 step process is called re-manufactured. This is less expensive than fresh pack because the paste can be shipped by rail to a packing plant and rehydrated lets say in Ohio or Georgia. It cost a lot less to ship paste than it does water. The re-manners can operate plants all year long. Fresh Packers( Escalon & Stanilaus) only pack for about 100-120 days a year. They then shut down the plant and pickle it till next year. Once the rains come in late Sept or early October the fruit in the field gets unusable and pack season is over. That's why it's a 24-7 operation.

Both companies pack two levels of tomatoes based on specifications. Stanislaus' best line is branded 'Saparito' and Escalon's is 'Bonta'. These are the best of the best and have the highest NTSS (Natural Tomato Soluable Solids) percentages. The next line would be called 'Full Red' for Stanislaus and 'Emma Bella' or 'Cristiforo Columbo' in the Escalon label. These lines are exactly the same but are built to slightly lower specs. But still, very good products.

During the manufacturing process Stanislaus chooses to add Citric Acid to the hot tomatoes as they are being filled in the can. The Citric Acid acts as a preservative by balancing the Ph level so bacteria can't reproduce, eliminating spoilage and 'can bulge'. Escalon heats their product to an exact temprature and holds it there, much like pasteurizing milk, thus killing all of the bacteria and then fills and seals the cans (under vacuum) without using Citric. This subtle difference is the big sticking point. Some operators claim that the citric gives the tomatoes a tangy / tinny taste to the back of the tongue and salivary glands. Some don't see any difference.

Arrainge to have a side by side 'can cutting' in your store. To do it properly you'll need to have them bring a 'Brix Refractometer' to compare NTSS. After all, the only thing in the can is NTSS and water. The higher the NTSS means you can add water to your recipe and dillute the concentrated product to the desired thickness you want. Every % point in the brix scale means you can add one cup of water per can. When I did the studies on Edible Yield Ounces between both of these products the cost per EYO were virtually the same. Escalon products cost 1-$2 a case more than Stanislaus' but the Bonta line HAD A 1-2% NTSS score above them and could be cut with water to equal out the same.

It's cheaper to buy either of these products than let's say a Hunt's Angelia Mia product because you can't dillute the already thin product. Even if the difference is $5 a case the math still works out in favor of the thicker, premium tomato. The others have too much water left in them.

Finally: It's a matter of personal taste, thickness, seeds, stems, and peel. In the big picture if you pay $20 or $22 for 6/#10 cans of product the cost per pizza will be the virtually the same because $2 divided by 700 - 900 EYO's doesn't even compute. Might make a pennys difference in the cost of the pizza. Go with the best.

varasano, My grocery store did have the Cento whole peeled as well, I will go get some tomorrow. I really want to try them after your recommendation. Sorry if I was wrong about the escalon top of the line thing. When I picked up the case of 6 in 1's from the foodservice provider he told me that they were the top of the line, but he may have meant that they were 'his' top of the line. All I know for sure is that when I switched to 6 in 1's everyone who tried my pizza freaked out about the sauce. Gotta love that feeling!

> Sorry if I was wrong about the escalon top of the line thingI'm not sure which is top of the line

Nathan, I read that promo for eschalon before, but the bella rosa I had shipped from CA were sub par. Even the processing was lame. They had a lot of peel and green core etc. Honestly, they were terrible.

Let me point out also that most italian brands are plum tomatoes where the american ones seem to be round tomatoes. Plum win hands down in my book.

Try the Cento and let me know. If you click onto my site I give sauce and prep instructions I use with the cento, if you are interested.

Jeff,Either you somehow got a bad case, or the 6 in 1 uses better quality tomatoes than the Bella Rosa. I guess it could be the same tomatoes, just processed better. I was shocked to read how much you disliked the taste, though, so there might be something more to it. I tried so many brands before I found Escalon, and they were so much better than anything else. Crazy as it may seem, I think the Cento must be one of the only brands sold in my area that I didn't try!I buy the ground, peeled 6 in 1, and I have never found a can with anything but pure red, juicy, yummy, chunky fruit inside. Sometimes ground peeled tomatoes are too smooth for my taste, not these. The 6 in 1 have what I consider to be the perfect consistency for pizza sauce, although unlike you I am only cooking at 550 so that could effect things. I guess there could be a miniscule amount of peel in there that I have never noticed, but there has never been anything green, and no core has ever been in one of the cans I bought. I always do a thorough stir to add my (minimal) seasoning, plus I would see that nasty stuff when I am putting together the pies. I am working on my third case of them right now, so I have been through 14 of the huge #10 cans. Having said all that, I must admit my favorite sauces are a combo of the Escalon, and San Marzano's. I do look forward to trying the Cento, though, thanks for the tip. It would be nice to find something I love that I can get right at my local market instead of begging the wholesalers to sell me one case at a time.

Also Jeff, thanks for telling us about the Electrolux mixer. I just pulled mine out of the box today. It was probably a good thing that I blew up my Kitchen Aid! I will be going to your website to follow your mixing regimen when the new Dlx 2000 sails its maiden voyage next week.

> Sorry if I was wrong about the escalon top of the line thingI'm not sure which is top of the line

Nathan, I read that promo for eschalon before, but the bella rosa I had shipped from CA were sub par. Even the processing was lame. They had a lot of peel and green core etc. Honestly, they were terrible.

Let me point out also that most italian brands are plum tomatoes where the american ones seem to be round tomatoes. Plum win hands down in my book.

Try the Cento and let me know. If you click onto my site I give sauce and prep instructions I use with the cento, if you are interested.

Jeff

Jeff,

Try Escalon's 6-in-1 (not the Bella Rosa -- I didn't like them either). The 6-in-1's are truly excellent.

I tried Progresso crushed tomatoes and found them to be excellent! 6-in1's are great, but you have to check the freshness date (the code on the can gives the year they were packed), because they can get very acidic when not fresh.

have some patience with the DLX mixer. It took me 5 batches to get the hang of it, but hopefully with my instructions you can cut that down a lot. I now get consistently great dough out of it.

I may have forgotten this on my website:

I fully loosen the black plastic bolt and let the arm swing back and forth on it's own as the machine runs. Occasionally I manually swing the arm to the center to make sure no dough pools ther and I also move the scrapper to the center just to force some extrusion.